Umaima buys a basket of watermelons on sale for $\$15$ before tax. The sales tax is $18\%$. What is the total price Umaima pays for the basket of watermelons? (Round to the nearest hundredth or cent.)
Answer: In order to find the total price, first find the amount of sales tax paid by multiplying the sales tax by the original price of the basket of watermelons. ${18\%} \times {$15} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $18\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{18}{100}$ which is also equal to $18 \div 100$ $18 \div 100 = 0.18$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. ${0.18} \times {$15} = {$2.70}$ Add the sales tax you just found to the original price to find the final price Umaima paid. ${$2.70} + {$15.00} = $17.70$ Umaima needs to pay $$17.70.$